Learning Curve
by Aingeal-J
Summary: The detectives have been thrown a little challenge - to referee the detectives of tomorrow
1. Default Chapter

Learning Curve Chapter 1  
  
A/N: Hiya all you people in fanfic land! I've been out of action because of school, but I'm back now!  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Eames & Goren  
  
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Eames woke to the piercing sound of her phone. She was laying face down, nice and warm under the covers. She was hesitant to move, but when the caller hung up and tried her mobile, she knew it must be important. She dragged herself out of bed and stumbled to her phone. The caller ID read 'Goren'. She sighed and answered.  
  
"Why are you awake?" she groaned.  
  
"Good morning to you too!" he answered. "I need a lift to work. Can you pick me up on your way?" he asked. She nodded, then realised he wasn't there to see it, so she voiced her answer.  
  
"Uh huh. No problems. Go back to bed," she said, making her way back to her comfy sleeping place.  
  
"Well no wonder you're always late for work, you're still in bed," he said.  
  
"Did it ever occur to you that you're just early?" she questioned. There was no answer on the other end. Victory!  
  
"Whatever. I'll see you in exactly 2 hours and 15 minutes," he said and hung up. What time? Alex thought. She would usually know straight away, but it was too early for her brain to work. Suddenly her phone rang again.  
  
"That's exactly 8:15am just in case it is too early for your brain to work," he said, a laugh in his voice. Alex had to smile.  
  
"Smart ass," she giggled. She hung up and went back to bed, lay there for 2 seconds and decided she was too awake, so she got up.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Goren and Eames walked into work earlier than usual. The floor was already buzzing, and they felt late. They went to their desks, but noticed something out of place. Another empty double desk was joined next to the side of theirs. They looked at each other questioningly.  
  
"Detectives," Deakins said cheerily as he walked up behind them. "I see you've noticed the extra desk."  
  
"Yeah, we were wondering about that," Goren said.  
  
"They are for the work experience students you two will be looking after," he informed them. The detectives looked at each other, then back at Deakins, demanding more information.  
  
"Two high school students from different high schools. Some new programme they have going. They choose a field and the city places them. They hope it will get kids to stay in school," he explained. "Oh, and here is one of them," he said as he spotted a student of about 18. He looked lost. He carried a large box with the essentials he'd need for work. He wore thin- framed glasses and a suit. It looked like Armani.  
  
"This is Elliot Walters from Riverdale College," Deakins introduced. Elliot put down the box and shook their hands.  
  
"Wow, an honour to be here," he said. He came across as confident, excited and eager. He wasn't the stuck-up rich buy, but rather considerate and full of life.  
  
"Eames, I've assigned you to look out for Elliot for the next two weeks," Deakins said. She smiled and nodded. She liked the kid.  
  
"Do I get one?" Goren asked expectantly. Deakins nodded as he craned his neck over the crowds of people.  
  
"There," he said as he pointed. Goren looked and saw the second student. A 17-year-old girl who carried a backpack and had headphones that produced blaring music. She wore black pants, red top and a denim jacket. She wore her hair up, with Japanese style sticks and a layered fringe over her right eye. As she approached them, she took her headphones off and extended her hand to Deakins.  
  
"Armelle Rosewood, Blakeview Community School. Sorry I'm late, got caught in traffic," she apologised. Goren couldn't believe he could get stuck with her. She was a bit rough, but overall a nice girl. She looked like she did things her way and didn't care what anyone said about her.  
  
"Well I'll leave you all to get acquainted then," Deakins said as he left. Eames and Elliot were already deep in conversation, so Goren decided to try and talk to his little project.  
  
"So, I guess I'm looking after you then huh?" he said. She flicked her hair off her face as she looked up at him, and nodded.  
  
"Seems so, could you hold this?" she asked as she handed him her discman. He popped it open and looked at the CD. Matchbox 20. Armelle took out a laptop from her backpack and placed it on the desk. She took out a pencil case and a pad of paper and out them next to the laptop. Next she took out her CD's and placed them in the top drawer, along with her discman. She put her bag on the floor, and then kicked it under the desk.  
  
"So, what do you want to be when you leave school?" Goren asked. Armelle leant on her chair with her other hand on her hip.  
  
"I wanna be a circus clown. Ya know, with the big red nose and the floppy shoes?" she said sarcastically, and then smiled. Goren smiled. Maybe she wasn't so bad after all. 


	2. Chapter 2

Learning Curve Chapter 2  
  
A/N: This chapter is a bit short, but oh well!  
  
Disclaimer: Don't own them. Can't claim them.  
  
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By late afternoon, Elliot and Armelle had settled in. Elliot's desk was tidy and everything in place. His pens were separated into different tins according to colour; paper was stacked according to size and computer discs in a small box next to his laptop. It was all arranged so everything was symmetrical – like he had an obsessive-compulsive need. Goren thought about it for a minute, and then looked at Armelle's desk. It wasn't as neat as Elliot's, with all the pens in one box, only one small pad of paper, her laptop, and a few books. Eames and Elliot were over at the coffee machine chatting away, while Goren and Armelle sat in silence awkwardly.  
  
"So, what are we suppose to do for the next two weeks?" she asked. Goren leant his chin on his hand.  
  
"I don't know. Maybe we should have some practise walking in those big shoes. Then I think a juggling lesson is in order," he said smiling. Armelle smiled back, but was thinking 'great, I'm stuck with this idiot!" Another 10 minute awkward silence followed, then Armelle decided to ask about what they'd really be doing.  
  
"So, do we get to go to real crime scenes and stuff?" she asked. Goren thought a moment.  
  
"I don't know. They can be pretty gruesome sometimes, and believe me, it's not something a young person should see," he said. In all honesty, he thought even he sometimes couldn't cope. He just had the ability to push them aside.  
  
"Well when I was at my uncle's farm we had to kill a cow," she said matter- of-factly. Goren paused.  
  
"What did you do with it?" he asked. Armelle couldn't believe he had asked such a stupid question.  
  
"We ate it! What else would we have done with it?" she said. He shrugged.  
  
"So you actually saw that?" he confirmed. She nodded. "And you were ok with it?"  
  
"Uh huh. Maybe not my favourite sight in the world, but didn't bother me. So does this mean I can go to a crime scene?" she asked getting back to the point.  
  
"Uh, yeah I guess if you've seen a cow being slaughtered, you can stomach anything," he said. "But don't blame me if you have nightmares," he added, just to be on the safe side. She tilted her head.  
  
"Would I ever do that to you?" she asked innocently. He eyed her suspiciously.  
  
"I don't now, I've only known you a few hours," he said. She smiled.  
  
"Maybe you're smarter than I gave you credit for," she said, walking towards Eames and Elliot.  
  
"Hey!" he said, realising what she had said. He smiled to himself. Such a charming young lady...not. 


	3. Chapter 3

Learning Curve Chapter 3- The Challenge  
  
A/N: Hmm...I'm cold.  
  
Disclaimer: Don't own them.  
  
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The first day went quickly, with the two students settling in well. Elliot practically followed Eames around with a pen and paper, jotting down notes and anything relevant. Goren and Armelle on the other hand, ignored each other's presence and did nothing but stay in their own little worlds. She listened to Matchbox 20, and he revised previous case notes. The next two days were just as un-eventful.  
  
"What about if the blood is splattered from a 90 degree angle?" Elliot asked Eames. She pulled out a diagram.  
  
"It looks more like this, as opposed to the shape of the 40 degree. See the difference?" she pointed. Elliot smiled, nodded and copied the shapes into his book. She smiled cheekily at Goren, who was giving her daggers. Why couldn't he get the smart one? She left the student and made her way to Goren.  
  
"Not doing anything huh?" she asked. He smiled sarcastically.  
  
"No. Why did you get the good one?" he asked. They looked at Elliot who was still copying out the diagrams.  
  
"Why, she not good enough?" Eames asked. They looked at Armelle, who was reading the newspaper, earphones still in place.  
  
"I haven't really spoken to her. She doesn't seem to care." He sighed and looked hopelessly at the girl. She looked bright, but just didn't have the willpower to do anything.  
  
"Well I guess we'll be seeing Elliot in that paper one day," Eames said, about to turn away.  
  
"What is that supposed to mean?" Goren jumped in. She folded her arms and looked at her partner.  
  
"I mean I bet you that Elliot will become a great detective."  
  
"What? And Armelle won't?" Goren said. Eames thought a minute, and then pulled up a chair beside him.  
  
"If at the end of two weeks she knows more that he does, then I'll be prepared to say she'll be a great detective some day," she challenged him.  
  
"Alright. But I must warn you, there is more to being a great detective than theory," he said extending his hand. Eames shook it.  
  
"Ok then. I look forward to presenting the best young female detective since...well...you," he said smiling. She smiled and turned away.  
  
"Flattery gets you nowhere Mr. Goren." He laughed and looked over at his student. He breathed in deeply, stood up, adjusted his tie, and approached her. He pressed Stop on the Discman and sat on her desk.  
  
"I assume you want something," she said without looking up.  
  
"We are going to learn," he informed her. She looked up at him, flicking the hair from her face.  
  
"Oh are we really? And what will you be teaching me?" she said taking her thin framed glasses off.  
  
"How to be a detective." 


	4. Chapter 4

Learning Curve Chapter 4-  
  
A/N: Ok, before you comment on this, you'll have to read the last chapter. You'll understand when you read about the whole students in a crime scene.  
  
Disclaimer: Do I have to write it...AGAIN?!?!  
  
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Goren had been attempting to teach Armelle a lot about being a detective; the difference between a gun fired at long rage and point blank, blood spatters and so forth, when a call came. Elliott was excited, but Armelle looked like she couldn't care less.  
  
"How can you be excited by this?" she said to him. "That call means someone has just been killed." Elliott's smile wiped from his face. He'd never thought about it like that. He thought of it as just some case to solve, some murderer to lock away from society; but Armelle saw it as someone just lost a friend, brother, sister, mother, father, son or daughter. And that had to be avenged.  
  
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The apartment was in a run down building. It was simple and some of the roof was falling down. There was water stains on the walls and on the floor.  
  
"Not much money to throw around, especially with Uni," Eames said as she inspected the man's papers.  
  
"Bashed in skull, lacerated wrists, broken ankle. Possibly from kicking the purp," Goren examined.  
  
"Wouldn't she have a broken toe if she kicked the attacker?" Elliot asked.  
  
"Not if she missed and hit with the side of her foot. Enough force would cause a breakage," he said, imagining it in his head. Eames filed through papers and photos.  
  
"Bella Doberman. Studying women's studies and Spanish," she read aloud.  
  
"Part of a feminist group?" Armelle asked as she poked her head from around the corner. She was looking through the rooms.  
  
"Yes. W.A.R. Women's Active Rights. Maybe someone got fed up with her?" Eames said. "There's a page from this report missing. The numbers skip from 6 to 9," she observed. Elliot looked through books and papers with Eames, while Armelle explored the small apartment further. The woman's room was relatively tidy, with the odd piece of clothing on the floor. She opened the small wooden box on the dresser. Nothing but a few silver rings and a necklace with a pearl on it. She closed it and walked out the bedroom. The next stop was the bathroom. She flicked her fringe out her eyes and looked up. The ceiling was a bit dirty, and didn't look like the air conditioning vent had been removed. She flicked on the light. There was something on the showerhead. She looked on the shower floor. There was a faint black mark – like someone had burnt something. She stood up and looked at the showerhead closely. There was soot residue on it.  
  
"Detective Goren, someone has burned something in here,' she yelled. Goren was having fun checking under the table for evidence. He looked up at Eames, his expression saying 'do I have to go'. Eames nodded. He got up and checked on her. He looked at the soot.  
  
"What do you think Detective Armelle?" he asked. She looked surprised that he'd even ask her opinion.  
  
"Well I think it could be the missing page from the report. Maybe it contained some revealing information," she concluded. Goren nodded.  
  
"Ok, so someone came in here, killed her and burned part of the report. Why not all of it?" he asked.  
  
"What's in the report in the first place?" she said quickly. He stood a moment.  
  
"I don't know. I'll have a look," he said as he went and got it from Eames. He came back skimming through the pages.  
  
"Ok. Bottom of page six says 'my studies of feminism in the 21st century were then suddenly halted when I had some strong opposition in my career and lifestyle choices. After speaking with this person, I found out a rather horrible secret that she'd kept hidden all these years'. Then it stops. Page 9 goes on to say 'after typing this report I hope the correct authorities will be alerted of these acts of crime and their culprit caught', and so on and so forth," Goren said and shut the folder.  
  
"Well that's it. Whoever it was found out about the report and their dirty little secret would be revealed. So they came in, killed her and burned the evidence," she said. Goren was speechless. All her theories made sense, and she was quick in her thinking. His thoughts were broken when a woman was heard yelling at Eames.  
  
"That's my daughter's! Put it down," she yelled angrily.  
  
"Ma'am we need to look for evidence. If you'd just like to go to the police station we'll see you there," Eames tried to calm her. Goren rushed out to help.  
  
"I'm Detective Goren. We're trying to find who murdered your daughter, and your co-operation would be much appreciated," he said. She looked at him snobbishly.  
  
"I don't care who you are. Get out of here," she said. Armelle saw the woman's reflection in the bathroom mirror. She was short, stubby and silver haired. She wore diamonds and fur. Definitely a rich woman. She was about to walk out when something shiny caught her eye. She kneeled down and picked it up with her tweezers. She held it up to the light and found it was a diamond with blood on the flat part. She looked back at the woman's reflection. She smiled to herself slightly, then bagged the diamond, hid it in her coat pocket and walked out casually.  
  
Elliot stood in the corner panicking. This woman was scary, and when she caught sight of Armelle, she hit the roof.  
  
"What is this? Dress up and play cop day? How many more school children are playing cops and robbers? This is my daughter's death we are dealing with!" she yelled. Armelle leaned into her hip, unfazed by the women's outburst. Instead she casually walked up and inspected the diamond necklace.  
  
"Wow, they are gorgeous! I'm a lover of diamonds myself," she said, hoping to get on the woman's good side. A little tip she picked up from a certain master psychology detective. "Tiffany, right?" she said. The woman smiled.  
  
"Well, yes. Well, I'm glad someone enjoys the finer things in life," she said. Armelle looked even closed.  
  
"Oh, one is missing," she pointed out. The woman's face went red.  
  
"Yes. Unfortunately they dropped into water and got wrecked," she covered. Armelle nodded.  
  
"So you've had them cleaned since you murdered Belle then?" she accused. Goren looked at Eames alarmed. He was about to move when Armelle pulled out the bloodied diamond from her pocket. "So you burned the evidence, then while you were washing away the ashes it dropped. You picked it up and put it back on, but didn't notice a stone had fallen out onto the floor. You got the rest of the blood cleaned off, but missed that one. Oh, and look," she said as she held it up to the necklace. "A perfect match," she said. The woman's face went red.  
  
"Yeah, well it's not my fault she had to go digging is it?" she yelled. Armelle smiled. Eames cuffed her and took her to the police car. Goren put his arm around his student.  
  
"Wow. How did you do that?" he asked. She shrugged.  
  
"I just have good eyesight," she said. She looked back at Elliot, who was still in the corner processing the events. She walked over to him.  
  
"It's ok. The big bad wolf has gone," she joked. He smiled and followed her outside.  
  
"And I thought I was the smart one," he said to her. Armelle smiled.  
  
"You are smart," she said, shoving her hands in her pockets, and walking to the nearest café with Goren for hot drinks. 


	5. Chapter 5

Learning curve Chapter 5  
  
A/N: Final chapter. Well now I have to write another story don't I!! One more thing, it is 11:15pm, on the day before school goes back, and I'm posting this is kind of a hurry. So I didn't get time to proof read it. If there are any mistakes, apologies! But if something huge is wrong...like a name or half a chapter is cut...tell me and I'll fix it ASAP!!  
  
THANK YOU to Channel 10 for putting Criminal Intent back on! More inspiration. Only 5 days to go!  
  
Disclaimer: I want them!  
  
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The detectives, Elliot and Armelle sat in Deakins' office awaiting his thought on the case.  
  
"You did very well. Little pieces of evidence left around that even I thought were too tough to find. But you did well." Armelle smiled. He dismissed the four. Eames and Elliot walked on ahead and Armelle stayed behind with Gore.  
  
"So what happens next?" she asked. He shoved his hands in is pockets.  
  
"Well we'd usually take the culprit into custody, interrogate them, get a confession and put them on trial for murder," he said. Armelle nodded.  
  
"So do Elliot and I get to see that?" she asked. Goren smiled.  
  
"Well one day I guess." He stopped for a minute. "Oh, you mean a trial for this case?" he asked. She nodded. "Well I guess if you were that keen we could set up a trial exercise," he said. Armelle laughed at herself.  
  
"Yeah. That whole thing was a set up, wasn't it?" she said, feeling stupid. He smiled.  
  
"Well you don't think we'd let you both loose on a real crime scene do you?" he asked. She smiled and shook her head.  
  
"Makes sense not to. Oh well, it was fun believing I could have done it," she said.  
  
"Well you did. You solved the case," he said. "You're smarter than I gave you credit for," he teased. She laughed. They walked back to the desk. I was time to pack everything up and head for home. Elliot and Armelle received a written report from Deakins, and from Goren and Eames.  
  
"Well Elliot, nice to have kinda worked with you," Armelle said extending her hand. Elliot shook it, smiling.  
  
"Yeah, you too. Hay can you tell me how you did it though?" he asked. She looked at him questioningly.  
  
"Did what?" she asked. He leaned forward.  
  
"You know, solve the case," he said. She smiled and looked at Detective Goren.  
  
"There's more to being a great detective than theory," she quoted him. Goren smiled.  
  
"Hmm. Well I have to go, so Thanks for everything, and I'll see you later," he said and walked to the elevator. He waved as the doors closed. Goren walked up behind Armelle.  
  
"Where did you hear that?" he asked.  
  
"I just picked it up somewhere. Did you win your bet?" she asked.  
  
"You heard that?" he asked surprised. She nodded deviously.  
  
"I know many things. I am all seeing, all hearing. Well I gotta run now. Oh, and there's a little thankyou gift on your desk," she said motioning to the little box wrapped with balloon paper.  
  
"See you kid," he said and watched her walk out just as she'd walked in - carrying a backpack with headphones that produced blaring music in her ears. She wasn't that bad after all, and he really liked having the students around. He went to his desk and met Eames.  
  
"Well remember our little bet?" she said. Goren nodded. "I think they will both be great," she said smiling. He opened the little box and found a red clown nose, 3 juggling balls and a note. 'Detective Goren. You owe me a juggling lesson. Armelle'. He laughed. "What?" Eames enquired.  
  
"Juggling balls and a red nose," he said holding them up.  
  
"Great, this is what New York has to look forward to?" she asked sarcastically.  
  
"Yep. The best minds our schools have to offer." 


End file.
